A traffic signal, green beautifications project and utility undergrounding project have all begun. One will last until summer.
By Laura Tate / Editor
Three major projects along Pacific Coast Highway will affect traffic during work hours due to intermittent lane closures in the Carbon Beach, Corral Canyon and Cross Creek areas, according to the City of Malibu. One project will last until the end of summer.
The Corral Canyon Traffic Signal project is expected to be completed by the end of April. Until that time, closures of the southbound lanes of PCH can be expected intermittently between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.
The traffic signal, which is being installed at the intersection of Pacific Coast Highway and Corral Canyon, has been in the planning stages for several years.
In September of 2006, an accident at the intersection renewed a call for a traffic signal there. Malibu resident Teresa Tuchman, who had long been an advocate for a signal at that site, had circulated a petition then to implement a signal, which 327 residents had signed in two weeks.
The city concurred that the intersection needed a traffic signal, but holdups included lack of funding, years-long studies, and planning and permit delays from Caltrans. In November, the city approved a construction contract with Padilla Paving, Inc. for construction of the project, which is being funded with federal monies administered by Caltrans. And in January this year, the council approved an agreement with Caltrans to move forward with the project.
Greening PCH median
The Malibu Green Machine’s PCH median enhancement project began March 23. Phase I of the project, which includes landscaping medians on PCH between Cross Creek Road and Webb Way, is expected to take approximately six weeks to complete. Southbound lanes on PCH will be closed intermittently during work hours from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The left-turn lane on Webb Way to PCH will be closed intermittently as well.
The $1.5 million project has come to fruition after many years of fundraising and planning.
The Malibu Green Machine was formed in 2005 by resident Jo Giese in an effort to beautify Malibu. The nonprofit’s first goal stated at its one-year anniversary in 2006 was to improve the appearance of the medians on the Pacific Coast Highway, a sore point for many Malibu residents, by using native plants and different materials such as cobblestone.
Safety was another reason cited for improving the medians along the highway. “A landscaped highway is a safer highway; it slows traffic down,” Giese had said.
The group had raised money for the project through various fundraising events, including donations by Malibu couple Kelsey and Camille Grammer, and resident Victoria Principal who gave $50,000 each. The city contributed $50,000 as well, and various other organizations and individuals have donated funds. Boething Treeland Farms donated thousands of plants to the effort.
ValleyCrest Companies, the landscaping firm owned by Malibu local Burton Sperber, CEO and founder, whose son Richard Sperber, president, is co-owner of the Malibu Lumber Yard mall, worked with the Malibu Green Machine on the median project in conjunction with Caltrans, which has jurisdiction over the medians. Burton Sperber personally designed the plans for the beautification project.
The initial phase of the beautification project, which has started at the section of the highway where the median begins in front of the Malibu Lumber Yard mall and the Country Mart shopping center just west of the Cross Creek Bridge, will continue a mile and a quarter westward past Malibu Country Mart and Malibu Colony Plaza, up the hill past Pepperdine University and extend to John Tyler Drive. Later phases are hoped to extend the work farther up Pacific Coast Highway where medians exist.
The design of the improved median, adhering to Caltrans specifications, combines hardscape (paved or tiled area) with softscape (planted area). Plans call for the hardscape to be executed in wavy blue tones to reflect the ocean, combined with “waves” of softscape in drought-tolerant plants.
Following Caltrans limitations, the softscape will have no trees, nor any plantings that exceed four feet in height or have a trunk more than four inches wide. One of the useful functions of medians is traffic safety, according to the highway department. The landscaping could provide some screening of oncoming headlights and reduce drivers’ nighttime eyestrain.
The Malibu City Council, which voted to provide maintenance funds for the program in its 2006-07 budget, is solidly behind the Green Machine’s median project. Interim Public Works Director Granville “Bow” Bowman had said, “I believe this is a very important project for the community and the users of PCH. It’s hard to believe it hasn’t been done before now.”
Utilities go underground at Carbon Beach
The Carbon Beach Utility Undergrounding project to move overhanging utilities underground in the Carbon Beach area began on March 16 and is expected to take approximately 20 weeks for completion (end of summer 2009). The work will require intermittent lane closures on Pacific Coast Highway in the Carbon Beach area between the hours of 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Mondays through Fridays.